The Oak Street Cinema was known simply as the Oak when it was first built in 1916 near the University of Minnesota campus. The theater was remodeled in the Art Deco style in 1935 and could accommodate about 400 moviegoers in its lovely auditorium. It was known as the Campus Theater for years thereafter, serving as a favorite spot for U. of M. film buffs, until it closed down in 1989. After briefly getting some use as a live-performance venue, the theater was renovated and opened as a movie house again in 1995 with the name Oak Street Cinema.

Now one of the best art-film theaters in the Twin Cities, the Oak Street screens classics, indies, foreign flicks, and film festivals, and it remains closely allied to its neighbor, the University of Minnesota.